I wasn't sure where to post this topic but finally I've decided to post here. Hope it's a good option.
I need something, a "box" to keep and organise my seeds. Something with compartments to put a little jar on each compartment. Any idea about where find it or find something similar? If it's possible via internet (I live in Spain).
I store my seeds in 35mm film canisters and small prescription bottles you can get at drug stores. Then they are stored in an old Hot Wheels storage case. The Hot Wheels case we got at Wal-Mart several years ago and they may not sell them any more. I also have nut and bolt storage cases that my bottles fit very well.
Seeds store best in a cool dry space as close to frozen as possible. Unless you have air temperature in that range year round or you have naturally dry air, or you use your seeds up quickly, it is probably better to just put the seeds in envelopes and put each category however you choose by alphabet or class I.e. cucurbits, herbs, tomatoes, etc. Put the envelopes of each class like different varieties of tomatoes in order in the bag,seal and rubber band it. Put all of the envelopes in a plastic bin or a bigger zip loc and put it in the refrigerator or freezer.
I like the film case idea, they are hard to come by now. I use old medication bottles with the adult resistant caps only a child can open. They can still be bound by rubber bands. You could put them in a bin in the frig. I used to use my crisper bin for that, but I have way too many seeds now. Now I have several bags in big plastic bag that takes up a whole shelf in my refrigerator. Soon I will probably need a seed frig.
Thank you all of you!! You give me really good ideas!
Marlingardener, I use your idea for my "home" seeds. I put them in envelopes and then in a card index box but for the seeds I use in the farm (there are much more seeds) this way is not really useful.
PaulF, I also use 35 mm film canisters and pills bottles to store the seeds. The bolt storage is a relly good idea for what I need.
rainbowgardener, thank you for the links. There are some that maybe fit me.
I've been trying to think of good ways to store them at ground temperature in buried containers. I was wanting to build a root cellar where some of it will be used for this purpose. Paper allows the seeds to dry more. For seeds smaller than a pumpkin seed this is great. If you put seeds in say canning jars with lids, then you could put more than one kind or separate out different age seeds in different paper bags. If placed in jars with sealed lids then a gel pack might be in order to continue the drying. There are gel packs that turn colors based on moisture content of the gel. I like the pill bottle idea for storing but more for transfer of small amounts of seeds to the garden. And are the pill bottles completely air tight? If so a gel pack may be needed. For seeds larger than pumpkin seeds a given moisture content might need to be maintained. Such as fruit tree seeds. As I understand it if they are dried too much it can kill them. I am not sure if freezing recalcitrant seeds is a good idea or not, it may be. Or because of their higher moisture content it may not be good. freezing orthodox seeds is fine as I recall. But do you really need to expend that energy? I guess if you have the freezer space and don't mind its fine. Its more energy efficient to keep a freezer closer to full anyhow.
I've tried to think of different ways such as burying pvc tubing in a bank and then having a way to slide the seed jars in and out as ground temp storage. A buried 5 gal bucked with insulated lid would work fine I think. I've been also wanting to work on a good solar seed dryer. I will probably just make some screened frames I can stack. I say solar I mean outside dryer. Though it might not hurt to have one side of it as a Trombe wall then use a fan to actively move warmed air over the seeds. I guess you could blow the hot air in at the bottom and let it rise through the stack like a chimney.
also I know of a good way to count seeds when you have many of them, I worked a temp job once where we counted nuts and bolts in an inventory. We weighed out say 100 then weighed the entire lot, then divided the lot weight by the 100ct weight. and multiplied by 100. with very tiny seeds it would be difficult though without very accurate or precise scales.
